The documentary "Kumare" comes to show how people can easily be duped and fall for a false guru. Vikram Gandhi, an American filmmaker, "transformed himself into 'Sri Kumaré', an enlightened guru from the fictional village of Aali'kash, India, by creating a spiritual philosophy centered around the ideas of illusion and self-empowerment. When he finally unveiled himself, the members of his core group of followers disagreed with his methods to varying degrees, but most still agreed with his message and chose to remain in contact with him." (Wikipedia)
This was the exact message that Tavayogi passed on to me the very day he stepped out of my home after accepting my invitation to grace our home, conduct a Siddha puja, and meet my family and friends. Just as my nephews and I drove him back to his place of residence in Batu Caves, having been invited to officiate a local chapter of his Peedham, I poured out my joy in having him.
I had never seen any spiritual master, nor listened to their teachings, nor taken up any lessons or practice until then. My knowledge of Agamas and religion was from books. The practice of Yoga that I undertook was from reading books, too. Although it was the 80s, when personal computers were slowly making their way into homes, my only means of gaining spiritual knowledge was from books until the late 80s. The picture that these books portrayed of God as being kind, loving, and compassionate did not tally with what I saw happening to relatives and friends. I was disturbed and in disbelief. Then Lord Siva in a dream told me to keep all my questions to a later date, which I presumed and understood that it shall all be revealed in good time.
The reasons came by way of my first Nadi reading, where Agathiyar explained why I was in the spot I was then in 2002. I understood about Karma that was binding all souls to every moment of their lives and contributing to the laughter and cries, wealth and poverty, health and sickness in each individual's life. The 8 years of confusion that I was told to drop in the dream, and that led to the 13 years of abstinence from feeding further on this religious and spiritual trash, cleared the junk and emptied the vessel, making me ready to be filled with the teachings, rituals, and practice of the Siddhas. I was reborn. When I took up the call by Agathiyar to worship the Siddhas, which I did, he sent Tavayogi and had him take me under his wings. The stage was set for me to get thrashed and beaten, for how else could one shine later? Just as I poured out my joy in having him over, he thrashed me, telling me that I was living in Maya and that I thought he had something hidden within his ochre and safron robe. He told me that he was not a Samy but an Asamy and to hold on to Agathiyar instead. Although it hurt me a lot to hear him say that, as I did not expect to receive a bitter medicine in place of sweet nectar, that was the most profound teaching a seeker could ever receive from his guru. I am glad and grateful to him for driving this fact into me back then, for today, I have come to see the guru in me. The soul or Atma in me is in charge. The Prapanjam sustains me as it does others. No literature or speech shall shake my faith. I shall never fall for a fake. Then Lord Muruga surprised me that the true danger was not from outside but from within one's faith. He whispered to me, saying Lord Siva and Agathiyar were plotting a scheme with Indra from Indralogam and warned me not to fall for it. This was a divine play to further test my allegiance and faith in Agathiyar that could land me in trouble, where others could manipulate me by mere mention of Agathiyar's name. They sent me for a Nadi reading, the first after the pandemic and post-pandemic, to authenticate the divine play. I was asked to sieve carefully all the messages that come through all the mediums, be it books, the Nadi, or a medium, before believing in them, even if it was from the Siddhas or their representatives. Again the divine had saved me from falling into the many pitfalls, and stepping on the booby traps laid out there. It is said that the path is akin to walking on a razor's edge and that there would be a trap door under our feet even as we stood at the door to his kingdom. Many have fallen into the dark pit. Equally many who have ridden the tide of glory and fame on this path have fallen flat on their faces. A guru would come in the nick of time to warn and save us.